Hotspots

and
Mantle Plumes
 What are hotspots?
O Location on Earth’s surface that
has experience active volcanic
activities for a long period of time
O Are thought to be caused by the
convection of hot mantle at the
mantle plumes
What are Mantle Plumes?
OAre areas or columns where
heat or molten rocks in the
mantle are rising toward
Earth’s surface.
Hotspot vs. Mantle Plumes
OMantle plumes are areas where
heat and/or rocks in the mantle
are rising towards the surface.
OA hot spot is the surface
expression of the mantle
plume.
 Let’s have a little of History…
O In the 1960’s, Tuzo Wilson, one of the founders of
the theory of plate tectonics, noticed some
interesting features about ocean islands. On a map
of the Pacific basin, he found three linear chains of
volcanoes and submarine volcanoes (seamounts).  
O Although separated by thousands
of miles, the three linear chains are
parallel to each other. Of the three,
the Hawaii-Emperor seamount
chain was the most well known.
O Wilson reviewed the reports that had been
published on these island chains and
recorded the age of each island. An
interesting pattern emerged. For each chain,
the islands become progressively younger to
the southeast. The extreme southeast end of
each chain is marked by active volcanoes.
O In 1971, W. Jason Morgan
suggested a more important role
for hot spots. He proposed that hot
spots result from hot, narrow
plumes of material that rise from
deep within the mantle.
O As the hot mantle plume reaches the
base of the lithosphere, it spreads
laterally. The laterally spreading of
the hot mantle helped to move the
Earth’s rigid outer plates.
OIn all, Morgan proposed 20 different
hot spots, some located along mid-
ocean ridges and others, like Hawaii
and Yellowstone, located within
plates.
 Volcanoes can form in these
Principal Settings
1. Divergent plate boundaries
2. Continental Extension
3. Convergent Plate Boundaries
4. Hotspots